On episode 8, it was Harlem Yu’s turn. From his team, I had a few favorites — like Wang Yun Yi (王韵壹) [1], Wei Yu Nuo (魏语诺) [1], Jin Chi (金池) [1], and a very VERY soft spot for the Amisi Girls (阿蜜丝女孩) [1] coz their arrangement of Leehom’s Mei [MV] was so much fun xD. So I was BUMMED that I had to choose between Wei Yu Nuo and Jin Chi on the first round of battles.

At first, I thought that Jin Chi was gonna take it really easy because she has such control of her voice, but I was surprised by Wei Yu Nuo who gave her own UMPH while doing a battle performance of Aaron Kwok’s Give your Neverending Love (对你爱不完) [clip]. They were really great together and after rather two weak duos, they seemed to put themselves forward as the best of the episode with their number, until…

This The Same Moonlight (一样的月光) performance by Wang Yun Yi and Zhao Ke (赵可).

and though… none of them made it after the deadly cut… with a rather weak “battle for my own” performance by Wang, they have a close to perfect performance with this. They maybe should collaborate in another project together.

I really REALLY hope Jin Chi makes it to the Top4, at least.

Next up! Na Ying’s team. It seems to be the strongest, but it also means a lot of good people are going to get cut.

The selection process for The Voice of China is done, and I had already picked my favorites… so it’s time for Liu Huan to sort out his picks and do a deadly — seriously, DEADLY — cut. From the first round of duo battles, my favorite performance was Quan Zhendong (权振东) Vs. Jianing Combination (佳宁组合) singing Winter is Coming (冬天来了).

The show is seriously riddled with major talent — so much that Liu Huan really feels it when he cuts people — but since everyone is so talented, I feel like everyone deserves to be there. Some VERY hard choices were made. Almost by the end of the show, when you thought you’d seen it all, Liu Yue (刘悦) went out there and gave the OMG moment of the episode (after a rather weak duo battle, if I may say).

Having said that, if the competition doesn’t work for Quan Zhendong, I think he should totally get together with Jianing Combination because they had great chemistry, and I think they were the most difficult to pick from.

— EDIT —

Now that I’m chronicling my journey through The Voice of China with my opinion on Harlem Yu’s team, I guess I have to tell you my thoughts on Liu Huan’s. Surprisingly enough, I only had two favorite FAVORITES~ The first one was Liu Yue [1] and then Summer (who ended up winning this episode) [1]. But overall I thought Liu Huan’s team had a very good vocal quality.

So~~~ Bibi’s got a brand new Chinese epic song that she’s done for some video game, and her voice sounds perfect. xD And since the lyrics of the song are tiny (just a few lines), I decided to give them a go.

Juanes said that he dreams in Spanish, so that’s why he usually doesn’t sing in another language, even though he’s collaborated with artists that don’t necessarily sing in Spanish. So when he did his song Hoy Me Voy[YouTube] — included in his 2007 album La Vida Es un Ratico — and did a Spanglish version with Colbie Caillat, it was interesting.

For the most part, the Spanglish version does a good job at translating the Spanish — “Devuélveme ese corazón que tú no supiste valorar lo que te daba yo de verdad.” to a pretty close “So give me back this heart of mine ’cause you didn’t feel the love that I would give to you every day and night.”

A literal translation would be “Give me back this heart that you didn’t value what I really gave to you.”

You know there’s a problem when you add the words “every day and night,” as well as the cringe-worthy random “baby.” xD Which they use in the chorus (nonetheless!!!) — “Tengo miedo de no olvidarte y por eso de ti me despido” with the line “I am scared baby, I won’t forget you and that’s why i need to let you go, so-”

The literal translation for that would be “I’m scared of not forgetting you, and that’s why I’m saying goodbye.” Compared to that, the Portuguese/Spanish version (Spanguese? Portugish?) goes the dramatic way with the line “Tive medo, fui covarde, é por isso que de ti me despeço” which translates literally to “I was scared, I was a coward, and that’s why I’m saying goodbye.”

Obviously, the mixing of Spanish and Portuguese is way more natural than with English. However, it’s super interesting that the changed lyrics in Portguese are even more dramatic than in Spanish… which usually have dramatic lyrics.

Anyway, I prefer the arrangements for this version with Paula Fernandes because it gives it a super serious and more devastating tone. The original version of just Juanes in Spanish is a little too peppy, and the version with Colbie Caillat is just… too soft.Continue Reading…